DESCRIPTION: In periodontal ridge reconstruction and subsequent implant fixation, the challenge is to fill bony voids with a graft material, which will maintain the volume and shape of the grafted area and support the structural integrity of the site throughout the course of new bone regeneration. The objective of this grant application is to employ biopolymer scaffolds to improve upon the molding, handling, and mechanical properties of autograft bone by augmenting its osteoinductivity and ability to maintain ridge shape and volume after reconstruction. Although autograft is the gold standard of bone transplantation, the results of autograft reconstruction in periodontal ridge reconstruction are sometimes unpredictable and loss of reconstructive height and volume is not infrequent. The application posits that the use of a degradable biopolymeric scaffold will at least materially extend an autograft without compromising its osteoinductive properties and at best improve upon both the mechanical and bioactivity properties of the graft material as graft consolidation occurs. Therefore, this Phase I project will investigate the feasibility of enhancing tissue responses in, and maintaining the mechanical integrity of, periodontal defects subject to repair or void filling using a biopolymeric scaffold by employing in vitro mechanical and in vivo histologic and histomorphometric outcomes. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Bone is the second most implanted material in the body after blood. There are more than 450,000 bone graft procedures proformed annually in the U.S. (2.2 million worldwide). The market potential for these implants is $400 to $600 million. New tissue engineered bone replacement materials, including those applied to periodontal applications, would find a niche in the ever-growing market.